Toxic Intruder: Black Mold Panic Has Families Fleeing Their Homes

— Believe it or not, families around the country are fleeing their homes — or having them destroyed — because of an insidious intruder they say is making them sick.

The invader? Black mold. Its technical name is Stachybotrys chartarum — stachy for short — and it's got a lot of people panicked.

In Oregon, the O'Hara family asked their local fire department to burn their $450,000 home to the ground after black mold was found inside. "It's basically just a house that poisoned my family," Mark O'Hara said.

In Hawaii, a $95 million Hilton Hotel tower has been closed since July because black mold was found in some of the rooms.

In a July 2001 story Time magazine said toxic mold is spreading "like some sort of biblical plague." The New York Daily News called it "killer mold."

Whatever you call it, across the country, black mold is causing people to abandon buildings, close schools and leave beautiful homes sitting vacant.

In Seabrook, Texas, the Hammond family lived in tents in their backyard for almost nine months, waiting for their insurance company to settle their claim and clean up black mold they say they discovered in their home.

Beverly and Mike Hammond say a bathroom leak caused the black mold to grow. The Hammonds lived for months with a "potty tent" that served as an outhouse. "As soon as I saw the mold, then we, you know, hightailed it for the tent," Beverly Hammond said.

They say the mold made them sick, causing fatigue and joint pain, and will only go in their house with a respirator.

Melinda Ballard's mansion near Austin, Texas is considered by many to be the "ground zero" of the current mold hysteria. Like Diane Fortner, Ballard once thought of her estate as a dream home. Ballard now refers to it as "Toxic Tara."

Ballard says it all began with a leaky roof and some burst pipes. She claims her insurance company lied to her, delaying her request to have the wet materials in her home replaced. That's when she says the black mold began to grow under the kitchen floorboards and spread to other areas. Finally, she and her family left.

"On April 23rd, 1999, we walked out of that home with nothing more than the clothes on our backs," Ballard said.

Ballard is suing her insurance company because of the black mold. She invited 20/20 to look around her home, but insisted we wear protective suits and respirators.

Ballard's case made news last year when a jury ordered her insurance company to pay her a staggering $32 million for acting in bad faith. The judgment is now being appealed.

In addition to making her house unlivable, Ballard claims, the mold also caused serious health problems.

She said her son, Reese, was gasping to get air into his lungs, coughing up blood and suffering terrible headaches. She said her husband, Ron, had similar symptoms, including what she calls early Alzheimer's.

Ballard said, "I know men forget their anniversaries and they forget things like that, but they don't forget what kind of car they've driven. They don't forget where they live. … He did."

"You can see mucosal bleeding, like bleeding from the nose and the ears, you can see hair loss … and there are some individuals that feel that indeed cognitive dysfunction or the inability to think, is also the result of the inhalation of fungal spores," said David Straus, a microbiologist at Texas Tech.

Straus acknowledged that there is no conclusive proof that these serious illnesses are caused by black mold. However, Straus said, "The data are coming."

Straus even claims his one visit to "Toxic Tara" as a consultant resulted in permanent hearing loss.

"I can't prove that the hearing loss occurred because of my exposure to mold in Melinda's house," but Straus added, "that's exactly the day that it began."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are very few case reports of mold in the home causing internal bleeding or memory loss, and no link has been established. Most scientists say the only proven effects from mold are allergic reactions and possible respiratory problems — including asthma. Some say mold fear is being whipped up by lawyers and mold cleanup companies eager to turn mold into gold.

University of Texas Medical Center immunologist, Dr. Gailen Marshall said some of his patients have been told to leave their homes and that black mold can kill them. But Marshall insists there's no cause for alarm.

"I think it's being blown horrendously out of proportion … All the stories that are out there are based primarily on testimonials and conjecture, not on hard scientific evidence," Marshall said.

The stories of mold panic are so widespread — they're even being spoofed on kids' cartoon shows. The parodies of mold fear ring all too true to Gordon Stewart of the Insurance Information Institute.

"There is no such thing as killer mold," Stewart said. He said mold — including black mold — has been around for centuries, and that people have only become hysterical about mold in the past few years.

Two years ago, there were only 1,000 mold-related insurance claims in Texas. That number soared to 14,000 last year. And now insurers, nationwide, are raising rates or dropping mold coverage altogether.

"There isn't more mold now than there was two years ago. There is more mold fear than there was two years ago, and there may be in some cases, more mold greed," Stewart said.

Marshall said he does believe most of his patients complaining of mold-related illnesses really are sick. "The question is what is the relationship between the presence of mold and their illnesses? … There's really no evidence that the very presence of mold, which is really everywhere in our environment, will by itself create bleeding, will by itself create memory loss or deficit, et cetera," Marshall said.

He believes what may be making some of them sick is not the mold — but the panic that's been created. Marshall insists the greatest danger isn't from the mold but from the panic that's been created.

He said, "There is clear evidence that the chronic anxiety that may result from something like this itself has a negative health consequence."

While there's no evidence toxic mold in the home is deadly — there is increasing debate about how dangerous it might be — and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is funding a study of mold's health effects.

If you see mold in your home, everyone agrees you should get rid of it. But experts say in most cases there is no need to have expensive mold remediation done. They advise homeowners to stop the water intrusion and to simply clean up the mold with a little bleach. If it has spread, experts advise homeowners to replace moldy building materials like Sheetrock. It's also important to note that not all black-colored mold is Stachybotrys chartarum.

For more information on what you should do if you think you have mold in your home, visit the following Web sites:

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY: The EPA Web site includes "A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home," which provides information and guidance for homeowners and renters on how to clean up residential mold problems and how to prevent mold growth. http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/moldresources.html

CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: The CDC Web site has information on air pollution and respiratory health, including this question and answer page on Stachybotrys chartarum. http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/airpollution/mold/stachy.htm.

BTW...It matters not the type of floor. I was talking my labor prices. Any interior specialty, if you're not making 300 to 450 a day, you're doing something wrong.

I see. So, are you the laborer, or is someone else? Or, do you have a couple of people with you on a job? I'm curious. 300-450 per day isn't really all that huge (not bad either) if you break it down into hourly and consider health insurance and benifits that you won't get from your employer.

I used to do electrical. License expired and I moved, plus it was never my main income, just side work. Kept the vultures away one year, though.

I suspect there's just about as high a percentage of greedy landlords as there is of greedy tenants.

Unfortunately, there are slum lords and greedy owners but thankfully they are a minority. On the other hand, most tenants are respectable as well. My perspective is from a property managers point of view and I am fortunate to work for good owners and have decent tenants but I have had some real doozies.

I self employed when layed off from the oldest Tile company in the detroit area. We did big work...Tiger's new Comerica Park, renovations to GM's world headquarters, many more big ones. The past year there has not been too many big jobs so we all go out on our own untill "the Next big one" hits. Which coincidentally is coming up in January. We go back for a year+ on Beaumont Hospital's addition.

When on my own, I do total interior renovation or interiors in new construction. Rough framing, to finish...electrical, plumbing(above or below ground), pergos to wood/ceramic, marble and granite, to the home owners choice of berber(sp?) carpet. I got into everything years ago, because I grew tired of waiting for other trades scheduals. Now, I wait on money!

< / soapbox >

We just sold our bay house because of toxic mold. After getting all the figures, we found the remediation & build back would cost more that the structure was worth. We were preparing to have it torn down when we got an offer. The man plans on repairing it.

The mold made me sick. Horrible headaches, recurring infections etc. My husband was not affected by it. The insurance paid us less than half of what it would cost to fix it. I am sad that we no longer own it but relieved that we don't have to worry about what to do with it. It was very distressing.

Layoffs suck! Well, sometimes - I have friends in the trades that enjoy them for short periods of time. Where I work, there aren't layoffs. I'm not quite sure if that's bad or good yet, but I've been at it for 20-some years and have survived (though I've changed jobs and positions a few times).

Well, I'm glad to see that you are enterprising. I was worried that you were ripping folks off, but it doesn't seem to be the case. Frankly, as I put up drywall and all in my basement, I sometimes wonder why I didn't pay someone else to do this. Well, at least I will have some experience to fall back on if I need to some day.

I'll be there isn't one FReeper on this thread who has a clue what kind of HVAC sysem he/she has in the house. Metal ducts? Rigid fiberglass? Round flexible ducts? What is the total/sensible ratio of your AC unit? Where your air-handler is located, can you clean out the evaporator coils? How many air-changes per hour do you get in each room of the house?

As per my dear non-FReeper husband.... heat pump, metal ducts. He'd like you to rephrase your ratio question. Yes, he knows where the air handler is located. Yes we can clean the evaporator coils (not that we have. We just replaced a 16 year old heat pump last week). And he does not know about the air change per hour thing. He says that has to do with air flow and he doesn't know how to begin to figure it.

Did he pass?

Well, the only question on the thread that I didn't try to answer yet. :^)

Metal main duct and plenum with flex-duct to each register. All insulated. Don't know the sensible / total ratio, but I know that I have 3 tons of cooling and it works well. 60,000 BTU gas furnace, 80% efficient induced draft pilotless furnace as well. Its located in the middle of the basement and serves as the air handler. I've cleaned the condensor, but the evaporator hasn't been cleaned yet. Haven't taken the time to learn how to calculate the air changes per hour of the house either on a per-room basis, or as a whole.

The most important thing at this point is to make sure you have determined and corrrected the source of the moisture intrusion that caused the mold growth.

Well, at the moment that we found the mold, our water heater had a small leak. The damaged area was flooring and wall in an area which held the water heater, a laundry room with deep sink (the idiots we bought the house from had the washer water draining into the deep sink. So of course, every time someone tossed a dirty rag in the sink and it went unnoticed....FLOOD!) and a bathroom. The damage was extensive and it's likely they had a number of overflows.

What really frosts me about this is ANYONE who had half a clue should have been able to find the mold. We had TWO house inspectors (one we paid and one VA) and neither one saw the mold or even tried to close the bathroom door. The door frame was warped and the door did not close.

We knew very little about buying a house and hired people we thought would find problems we didn't know to look for.

Asthma and allergies are constant plagues to many people in my extended family. Just as an aside, I have a nephew who lives in a spotlessly clean home and he has suffered from asthma and allergies since he was a tot.

Perhaps he's had too much exposure to modern cleaning chemicals, carpet and construction glues and lives near a busy street or highway. Or it could be the numerous required vaccines.

I don't know about all the claims being made,but I do know I damn near died two years ago from inhaling mold while remodeling my home,and I STILL have trouble breathing. I had been cutting out and replacing rotten siding and subfloor,and came in the house that evening to rest. I say in my recliner chair,and it was two days before I could get out of it. Every time I would "wake up" and try to get out of the chair,the exertion made me lose all my "wind",and I'd black out again. I even managed to quit smoking after being a 2+ pack a day smoker for about 40 years. I didn't even have enough "wind" to inhale a cigarette. I went for well over a year not being able to walk from the house to the truck without having to go to my knees and gasp for breath at least once. I am only marginally better now,and am to the point where I don't think I will ever again be "well".

My advise to all of you is to do whatever you can to avoid breathing mold dust.

There is nothing new under the sun. This 3,000 + year old passage shows two things: God wanted the Jews to be careful around mold; and that modern building codes, materials and practices have little to do with the problem.

I strongly suspect that the rate at which the problem occurs is far greater than 3000 years ago. A very rare problem then is becoming a very common problem today.

Drywall, EIFS, OSB, Tyvek, particle board, polyethylene and many other problem (when misused) materials were rather rare then. :)

My advise to all of you is to do whatever you can to avoid breathing mold dust.

Good advice, I'd say. Dang! Hope you continue to improve after that situation.

My overall opinion, based on what I've read so far is that mold can be a real serious problem. Under such circumstances, I think it needs to be dealt with ASAP. BUT, my big caveat is that trial lawyers have exgaderated (sp?) the problem to the point that probably 8/10 claims are bogus. That's not to say that there isn't a problem - I'm guessing that 1/2 of the false claims are from people that do have a problem but it isn't related to mold. But, the rest of the false claims, IMHO, are from folks that think that they can get something for nothing. Kind of like welfare - free rides attract riders.

I think the problem is that this is a newly recognized problem. Few people have gotten their heads around the severity and extent of it yet.

Practices that have been routine in maintaining buildings for decades are going to become completely unacceptable.

I'm not in favor of rent control, at all. However, the problems it creates for landlords in financing proper maintenance is an entirely separate issue.

Although there are a lot more tenants than landlords, each landlord who is unethical has the potential to effect the lives of a great many tenants. So I think the dishonesty issue cuts both ways.

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